Kingdom Two Crowns beginner’s guide
Recruitment, farms, shrines and island travel in the original campaign.
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Start with the medieval campaign if you want to learn Kingdom Two Crowns from the ground up. You spend coins to recruit people, buy their tools and expand your settlement. This guide covers the five-island campaign, its main unlocks and the portals you need to deal with. “Classic” here means the original Two Crowns setting; Kingdom Classic is a separate game.
Build an economy before you build an army
A recruit needs both a coin and a job. Give a vagrant one coin, then buy a bow or hammer at your town centre. Archers defend at night and hunt during the day; builders construct and repair. Keep recruiting while you expand, because another wall does little for you without people behind it.
Leave room outside your walls for hunting. Clear trees gradually to let grass spread, but protect the trees around recruitment camps. Farms provide another source of money once you have a working economy and farmers. Expanding at dawn gives builders time to finish before the next attack; starting a distant wall late in the day leaves them exposed.
Mount stamina, speed and feeding
Bars show relative ratings, not measured speed or sprint times. Hover or tap a skill or Food for details. Finish feeding before a long trip; the well-fed reserve expires even while you stand still.
The starting horse has average speed and stamina and grazes on open-field grass.
What each unlock does
Gems pay for the one-time unlock. Coins are a separate payment to ride a mount, activate a statue or carry a hermit. A hermit’s 1-coin ride does not include the building conversion. Technology prices do not include local town or wall upgrades. The starting horse is free.
The island number fixes the main unlocks below. Their position along the island can change, so use landmarks and your pause-screen map rather than a universal left/right route. Gem unlocks and coin purchases are separate payments. There are no gem chests on island 1: sail to island 2 before returning for its upgrades.
Ranks: our practical priorities within each category and campaign. S = first pick, A = strong, B = useful, C = situational, D = low priority, E = weak, F = avoid. Hover or tap a rank for the trade-off; no tier is filled just to use every letter. Comparison sources.
| Unlock | Effect | Use / requirements | Rank | Island |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Archery statueStatue3 gems10 coins | Improves your archers’ accuracy. | Pay the coin offering after the gem unlock. The blessing applies across the campaign; reactivate it after losing the crown. | S tier: A first priority: better accuracy helps your main defenders and hunters throughout the campaign. | Island 1 |
| GriffinMount2 gems8 coins | Its wing blast pushes Greed back, buying defenders time. Use the mount action near a wave. It can feed anywhere, but still has limited stamina. | MovementBlocker SpeedFast StaminaGood Catches rats anywhere when stopped, including in winter and caves. Its wing blast still spends stamina. | S tier: Fast travel, knockback and feeding anywhere make this the safest general-purpose pick, including in winter and caves. | Island 1 |
| Ballista HermitHermit3 gems1 coin | Converts a high-tier archer tower into a long-range ballista. | Carry the hermit to a triplet-or-better tower and pay for conversion. A builder operates the weapon; the former tower archers return to normal work. | A tier: Strong tower support when a good tower spot covers the approach. Poor placement or exposed crew lowers its value. | Island 1 |
| Stone mineTechnology10 coins | Unlocks stone technology across every island in this campaign. | Pay at the mine, then buy the local town and wall upgrades. The mine itself does not turn existing wooden walls into stone. | — | Island 2 |
| Scythe statueStatue1 gem7 coins | Lets farms support more plots and farmers. | Activate the blessing and leave enough clear space around the farm for the extra plots. | B tier: Good once you can staff spacious farms. It adds little before farming is established or where plots are cramped. | Island 2 |
| StagMount1 gem3 coins | Attracts deer so they follow you towards your hunters. Ride close to deer, then lead them back to your archers. | MovementEconomy SpeedFast in forest StaminaSlightly above average Grazes on open-field grass. It cannot feed beneath forest cover, despite travelling faster there. | A tier: An excellent early scout through forest, with deer income on the way home. It still needs open grass to feed. | Island 2 |
| Stable HermitHermit1 gem1 coin | Converts an upgraded farm into a stable for unlocked mounts. | Carry the hermit to a mill house. Construction costs 8 coins; mounts available at the stable cost 3 coins to switch to. | B tier: Convenient mount swaps and specialist access. Lower priority if one general-purpose mount already covers your needs. | Island 2 |
| DogCompanion1 coin dropped | Warns you which direction a Greed wave is coming from. | Listen to its barking and keep it away from live portals. It provides warning rather than fighting for you. Drop a coin on the fallen tree; recover the coin afterwards. | — | Island 2 |
| Building statueStatue3 gems9 coins | Increases wall durability. | Activate the blessing, then let builders reinforce your walls. It does not automatically upgrade the wall tier. | A tier: Stronger walls buy time on every defended side. Still maintain your army and repair damaged defences. | Island 3 |
| WarhorseMount2 gems8 coins | Gives nearby subjects a temporary protective buff. Ride past your soldiers to apply it. The horse still needs grass and stamina for its own escape. | Support SpeedSlow StaminaLow Grazes on open-field grass. Its protective ability does not prevent your mount from tiring. | B tier: Useful when you ride with vulnerable troops. Slow travel and low stamina make it a weaker everyday mount. | Island 3 |
| Draft horseMount1 gem3 coins | Gives you more running stamina than the starting horse. Useful for long scouting trips. It grazes on grass and has no combat ability. | Movement SpeedAbove average StaminaHigh Grazes on open-field grass. Long stamina does not remove its need to stop and recover. | A tier: High stamina makes long scouting trips easier. Bring it for travel; it has no combat or crowd-control skill. | Island 3 |
| Bakery HermitHermit4 gems1 coin | Converts a high-tier archer tower into a bakery that attracts and recruits vagrants. | Carry the hermit to a triplet-or-better tower, pay for conversion and stock treats. A vagrant who eats one joins you; recruiting them before eating saves the treat. | S tier: A high recruitment priority on long islands: fewer trips to distant camps and faster recovery after losses. Keep bread stocked. | Island 3 |
| Iron mineTechnology20 coins | Unlocks iron technology, including the route to the strongest keep and the bomb. | Unlock stone first. Pay at the mine, upgrade your local keep, then prepare the bomb and its escort. | — | Island 4 |
| BearMount3 gems8 coins | Damages wildlife and Greed with its charge attack. Run into targets to attack. Wildlife hits restore some stamina after the 2024 buff; keep enough reserve to retreat. | Damage DealerEconomy SpeedFast in forest StaminaLow Grazes on open-field grass. Hitting wildlife also restores some stamina; an empty route provides no targets for that recovery. | B tier: A useful hunting and damage specialist after the 2024 buff: wildlife hits restore some stamina. Low reserves still punish an empty escape route. | Island 4 |
| LizardMount3 gems10 coins | Creates fire on the ground that burns passing Greed. Use the mount action ahead of a wave, then leave enough stamina to retreat. | Damage DealerBlocker SpeedAbove average StaminaVery low Sunbathes while stopped on open ground; grass is unnecessary. Works during winter daylight too, most reliably near noon. Cannot sunbathe at night, in forest, inside caves or during a retaliation eclipse. | A tier: Strong damage and area denial against ground waves. Very low stamina and daylight feeding make long escapes risky. | Island 4 |
| Warrior HermitHermit2 gems1 coin | Converts a triplet archer tower into a recruitment point for one additional squad leader. | Carry the hermit to the tower and pay for conversion, then buy its extra shield. The new leader needs archers for a useful assault squad. | B tier: Useful extra assault capacity once you can equip another squad. Conversion, shields and archers make it an investment. | Island 4 |
| Knight statueStatue2 gems8 coins | Improves knights’ attack speed and coin capacity. | Activate the statue before relying on it in an assault; it does not recruit a squad for you. | A tier: Faster attacks and extra coin capacity strengthen assault squads. The old leaping attack was removed in 2021; you still need trained troops. | Island 5 |
| UnicornMount4 gems12 coins | Produces coins after grazing. Let it graze to support your income; coin production has its own cooldown. | Economy SpeedFast on plains StaminaAverage Grazes on open-field grass. Grass disappearing in winter limits both its feeding and coin income. | B tier: A useful income mount when grass is available. Winter feeding and lack of combat utility limit it as your only mount. | Island 5 |
| Horn HermitHermit3 gems1 coin | Adds a war horn to a strong wall, allowing reinforcements from the other side. | Carry the hermit to a suitable high-tier wall and pay for conversion. Sounding the horn costs 1 coin; troops from the other side stay until morning, leaving that side less protected. | C tier: Situational reinforcements for a threatened side. Travel takes time and the opposite side loses protection. | Island 5 |
No unlocks match. Try another island, type, tier or search.
Island 1: No gem chests here. Bring gems back from island 2.
Island 2: First technology upgrade. Free the dog before you leave.
Island 3: The merchant no longer appears from this island onward.
Island 4: Unlock iron, then upgrade your local keep for the bomb.
Island 5: No coin chests. Bring enough money for your purchases.
How many portals are on each island?
These are starting exterior counts for the regular campaign. “Small” means the freestanding forest portals; the dock portal and cliff portal are counted separately. The total does not count nests inside the cave or teleporters you build yourself. A save where you have already destroyed portals will show fewer remaining.
Island 1
2portals totalIsland 2
4portals totalIsland 3
6portals totalIsland 4
8portals totalIsland 5
8portals totalAn island with no small portals still has its two end portals. Destroying a portal triggers retaliation, so finish repairs and prepare your defenders before attacking. You can clear the route to the mountain without first demolishing every portal on the dock side. Clearing the dock lets you build a lighthouse for later voyages; destroying the cave is what permanently removes the Greed from that island.
From stone technology to the bomb
Stone technology is on island 2; iron technology is on island 4. Unlocking a mine makes that technology available across the campaign, but each local town still needs its upgrades. A practical route is to collect gems on island 2, return for useful island-1 upgrades, then continue towards iron. This is a planning option, not a compulsory island order.
At an iron keep, the bomb costs 18 coins. Clear the small portals on the cliff side first, then prepare builders and an escort before purchasing it. Keep another 5 coins for entering the cave and 5 for lighting the bomb at the end. Your mount needs enough stamina to escape after ignition. In co-op, enter together and make sure both players are ready to run.
Winter and stolen companions
The ordinary seasonal cycle lasts 16 days per season; the first winter runs from day 49 through day 64 of a reign. Sailing does not reset the season. Save money beforehand, keep farmers for berry gathering and use fishing income rather than depending entirely on normal crops. Winter ends; you do not have to abandon a useful kingdom because snow has arrived.
If the Greed take a hermit, the dog or gems, remember which island it happened on. Destroying that island’s cave with a bomb releases what was taken there if you survive the escape. That is why a rescue can become the next campaign objective. Our first co-op run lost gems and the dog on island 2; getting the bomb gave us a very specific reason to come back.
Sources
Checked 20 October 2026. Official announcements establish campaign features; detailed routes and counts use the named community references. These are researched instructions, not a claim that we tested every route.
- Official game overview
- Island discoveries and portal layout
- Bomb construction and cave assault
- Season cycle
- Recovering hermits and companions
- Mount unlock and ride costs
- Hermit unlock and carrying costs
- Statue unlock and activation costs
- Stone / birch technology costs
- Iron / pine technology costs
- Dog rescue payment
- Hermit building conversions
- Mount abilities
- Stables and Norse ranchers
- Bakery, potion, mead and wine recruitment
- Additional squad leader from the Warrior Hermit
- Horn-wall reinforcements
Mount travel and feeding checked 23 October 2026 against the community-maintained Kingdom Wiki mount comparison, Lizard sunbathing conditions, wolf howling and Unicorn / Kirin reference. These are researched comparisons, not our own timed mount tests.